In booth #240 at European Microwave Week (EuMW) 2015 in Paris, France (6–11 September), Wolfspeed of Raleigh, NC, USA, a Cree Company that supplies gallium nitride on silicon carbide (GaN-on-SiC) high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs), is exhibiting its newest radar products, including what are claimed to be the highest-power C- and S-band GaN HEMTs on the market (the CGHV59350 and CGHV31500F) in addition to its 50V unmatched general-purpose GaN HEMTs (the CGHV40030, CGHV40100 and CGHV40050).
Specifically designed to solve long-standing issues for radar systems employing traditional traveling-wave tube (TWT) amplifiers, Wolfspeed's GaN RF transistors for radar applications were engineered to deliver the highest power and efficiency available in a small package size, and are not prone to the failure mechanisms associated with high-voltage (kV) TWT power supplies (allowing them to provide longer operational lifetimes).
"Wolfspeed's C- and S-band radar products break power records for GaN power and efficiency performance housed in a small 50Ω package," claims director of sales & marketing Tom Dekker. "This efficient power enables the economical combination of transistors to achieve multi-kilowatt power amplifiers required for defense, weather, and air traffic control radar," he adds. "If we consider the figure of merit for RF power output relative to the area of a 50Ω package, Wolfspeed's 350W C-band device beats the closest commercial GaN competitor by an estimated 3.5 times. Using the same figure of merit, Wolfspeed's 500W S-band device raises the bar by 45% over other commercial S-Band products."
Wolfspeed says that, with high-efficiency, high-gain and wide-bandwidth capabilities in addition to high power density and low parasitics, its general-purpose, unmatched 50V GaN HEMTs significantly improve the efficiency and bandwidth capabilities of multi-octave bandwidth amplifiers, narrow-band UHF applications, and a wide range of L- and S-band products, and are suitable for use in high-power broadband amplifier, CW, and pulsed applications.
